Latest news
 

Sorry haven't been on here for a bit, but I am in Florida where we have the latest news to report.

Just finished rigging out the blue 30 Open Style Adventure boat with twin Merc 225 outboards..... and it ran 76 MPH on GPS. The blue boat is on the site under products, under 30 Open Style....the boat on the trailer in the photo below.

Getting the tiniest last details done..stereo installation, better trim around the door etc on the Miami show boat....... and that is going to the River Ranch Hot Boat Festival this weekend.

Also will be listing for sale, the hull we used for a plug for the new mold.....that boat is the first boat in the owners section with Mary Pat McCarthy driving. It was a boat I built and owned the whole time.

We took it and flipped it and filled all the holes and made it perfect so the mold could be made from that. We are selling that hull, which was originally an IO with a new deck as a project package for someone....Hey Pasta want another project???

PM me if interested.

Also have the direct descendant of my old 38 in the form of a 2008, 33 Avanti with twin 525 Mercs. We are helping the owner who wants to sell it and order a new banana, a 39 or 41......that will be up with the info on the site soon ....photos are shown here of that boat too.

also....keep cking the site changes are being made.

[QUOTE=Top Banana;2833987]
Hey Pasta want another project???

QUOTE]
Actually, before I saw my own name I was thinking to my self, what a wonderful and cool project. :cool:
The timing isnt perfect though:)

I will check the site right away which I buy the way rate :Score-101010:

Im sorry, where are my mannors. Forgot to say:
Congrats on your new boat. :ernaehrung004:
76 mps on the GPS, you have to be satisfied. :)
How much does the boat weigh?

Thanks.....the boat is a race layup that was tried and we don't have a final weight....cabin was empty and we put in 15 gallons of gas, console was very small and we took out everything that didn't need to be there.

Now, get back to work and give us some numbers on that 525 you are working on......that is going to be some boat.

You are right, I need to get back to work...
However, the polar bears :p have just left Sweden.
But the ice is still here.
I hope to test the boat in June/July.

Pasta here are the photos I tried to send of the project boat.

Are the hull and deck together on this one yet ?

I am in Virginia tonight.....towing a boat up route 95 for delivery to New England, so I only get on the computer at night.

No, the deck isn't on yet...it is just laying on top of the hull right now.

The hull still has the old fuel tank still foamed into place and all the bulkheads in place....the new deck fits right between the firewall bulkhead and the cabin door bulkhead as one piece.

Sterndrive or outboard??? Depends if you like the engine noise or just want a jump in and go boat, with the outboard.

Photos of the boat back in the days are..... look on the website, the first boat in the owners section...Fast Lady.

I promised the promoters of the Gloucester Mass race that Banana boat Co would help them and bring a boat to ther race back in the 70's. However the week before the race, I was racing the Top Banana in Miami and broke some motor mounts....so when I went back to the shop in RI, this boat was being readied for delivery to a dealer. I had the crew take the interior out and brought this boat.

Gloucester had two races back then, an inshore and an offshore. I raced this boat in the inshore one and came in first place. Since the boat was raced, I couldn't sell it as a brand new boat, so I gave it to my wife and she named it Fast Lady. That was the ony time it raced, so it has a perfect record LOL.

When we built the new molds, this boat was derigged and made perfect everywhere....we covered it with gel coat..the black and white you see... and then lathered on the mold release wax and made the molds.

Charlie you are only in VA? thought the boat went faster than that?

Cool .... Thanks !

How about twin Yamaha 300 ? Hmmmmmmmmmm !:cool:

I think that they're too heavy.

Close....we found that with this boat you really don't need a lot to make it go fast and be a great boat.

For instance, when we built sterndrives we used both small blocks and big blocks and found the weight really restricted the performance so the two were almost even in speed.

The single 250 outboard will now run at 67 MPH....under Powerboat test conditions... 5 gallons of gas, 1 person, best size waves etc, etc. A single 300 or 350 would make a nice performance...with no hassle package.

We are going as fast as we can, but everytime we stop, people come from everywhere and want to know all about the boat and the owner......we have all the details about the boat,...... but...... told them we promised that we would keep it a secret that Tom Brady, of the New England Patriots, will be running the boat this summer in New England....we want to protect the identity of our customers.....don't want beautiful women following them around everywhere.

Charlie thanks for the help but yuo know you have gotten me in enough trouble this year!

:ernaehrung004:Just took delivery of my new 24" Banana and I have to tell you I cannot be any happier. The Boat looks fantastic it is so much better than I had hoped when I began all this in the fall. I had a 1990 Banana but you cannot compare the two boats. Quality is far superior to the old boat, with so many small details, workmanship is the best I have seen on any new boat and I had been looking for quite some time. It is clear to me that Charlie takes great pride in his work and could not have been any more helpful throughout the process. It is certainly amazing the folks that worked on this project, it is a who's who from the racing world and one look proves it. This boat will be in RI all year and if anyone is interested in looking at it or going for a ride if you are thinking of a Banana please let me know and I would be happy to take you out for a ride. Thanks again Charlie, I appreicate all your efforts.

Congratulations on the new boat!

:drink:

Steve...it was a lot of fun...especially the chance to hook up with my old racing friends and build somethng with today's technology.

I was just the conductor.....the real kudos go to the guys who worked with me all the way on this build....Brownie, Bobby Saccenti, Mike Livorsi, Phil @ Ocean Hawk, Mike @ Fineline interiors, Don Aronow's old painter, George Piparo and the BRP people at Evinrude.....there were big smiles all around at the water test and great satisfaction knowing we achieved what we set out to do.

Charlie, I remember the Gloucester races well. Infact a high School buddy of mine, Ken Ireland, was so impressed with your 24 Banana that he wore a Banana Boat T-shirt for the Senoir Class year book photo!:ernaehrung004: If I ever get a scanner, I'll scan the Senior Class picture for you!

Kurt

is that the same boat that was at MDG in Edgewater MD on Fri I thought it was an old Firefox that was redone had to get a better look that boat looked great

Thanks...yes, it is the same boat. After taking a good hard look at the economy and the state of the marine industry now, we have decided on a "Broker-Agent", rather than a traditional dealer arrangement.

MDG is going to represent us as our "Broker-Agent" in the Middle Atlantic area and we have another Broker-Agent down in Houston for the lower South area.

We think that the days of the dealer buying a boat and floor planning it through a bank or financial institution and then adding on up to 30%, is not the model of the future.

In our case, since we build all the boats as custom and we work so closely with the buyers, this new arrangement works out best for everyone. I believe it will become the business model for the future, for those boat comapnies that do survive through the present times.

For more of our thinking see...Should you buy a Banana? on our website.

www.bananaboatco.com

Kurt....thank you I would love to see that photo. Yes, the Gloucester races were something and we met some special people out of that little town.

Remember the guys from the race boat Black Duck, from Gloucester...not the Shadow Cat years later of Pete Aiken.

Anyway, the Gloucester guys heard a distress call as they were at home and they went out in a boat to try save another boater durng the great blizzard of 1978..... and they all lost their lives.

Wow, great memories. The old Black Duck, a 30' Cobra? belongs to a buddy of mine. It's been sitting for several years. I'm sure he'd be interested in passing it along.

The rescue boat you speak of was the Can Do. I remember that night well. Very tough guys who gave their lives trying to help during that incredible storm.

Here's some interesting reading about the fate of the Can Do.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/hanover/archive/x1805578817

http://www.thehulltruth.com/northeas...78-can-do.html

Kurt

Thanks Kurt.....I'm trying to remember names here now so many years later....I think it was Dave Warner, he was the owner driver of Black Duck...both I don't remeber the other guy's names.

Yes, it was Dave. I ran into him recently. He hasn't changed a bit. Still playing with hot rods and boats! :ernaehrung004:

Kurt

The black duck
 

Hi Charlie, After a google search this chat with Kurt, who I know from where I gew up, came up.
Most likely the other 2 guys in The Black Duck were Andy Dominic, owner of Cape Ann Marina, an old employer of mine and recently passed. And Jonny Oliver of Rockport Ma. A close friend of mine and many others.
Dave passed away almost 2 yrs ago. As Dave was a huge fan of boat racing his wife Lois has seen fit to help out my local racing program quite a bit with my 34 Phantom in his name. Yesterday we just picked the boat up from our sign guy with a memorial to Dave and his offshore efforts, on the side which we are running with in KW next week.
I don't know if you knew Dave well but judging from what you have written and posted in the past you may appreciate what we are doing.
If you are on Facebook, look us up or when my girlfriend wakes up I try to put a pic up of Dave's sticker. Or maybe Kurt can pull it off FB. Are you there Kurt?
Brian Williamson, Perdition Offshore Racing

what is the latest news on boats being built?

Captain. I am in Florida for the winter now .......and at this time the only boat we are thinking about would be new 43 for my son. Have some new designs for the decks on the 24, 28 and the 41. Also have some step inserts for the hull molds for the three sizes.

But as always if customers step up any size is available.

Thanks Top Banana for the update. Are you building the boats up North then? Enjoy the warm Florida sun for the Winter.

Craig

Charlie... still trying to sell my sonic... but you know how that is... I want to build a 28 with nothing but bolsters and an engine. plain jane boat but with some speed. if you know anyone that would like a 31 sonic other than a rock off the coast of Jamestown please let me know thanks.